After seeing at least thirteen spelling mistakes on that page, I decided to give the program a miss. (I messaged them about that).

The "24/7 Live Support Chat Now Online" is rather misleading (since the link doesn't work) and I've got to question their use of the term "tunneling" when all they're basically offering is an "anonymous" server (their own).

Hmmm...Risersoft use a browser plugin (restricting it to Internet Explorer users only), announce it on April 1st (just coincidence I'm sure...) and their Privacy Policy/Terms of Use links do not appear to work properly (just reloading the page on Opera).

Really, I would be very reluctant to trust any anonymizer where the software source was not open for inspection. Without this, you have no way of knowing if the encryption is secure or if there are back doors allowing the provider to keep tabs on you. Open sourcing the client software should be possible commerically, since the company is really selling bandwidth and server access rather than software.

For that reason I would recommend the Java Anonymizing Proxy (JAP) instead which can be used with any browser (and most OS's), offers encryption through multiple servers (called mixes), is open source and currently free to use (however it can be slow - though it is possible to check mix performance and switch to another one). Since it is open source, any attempt by the providers to circumvent it (as in this case) has a good chance of being found out, unlike with closed software.

There has been posts that JAP has been backdoored.....as yet I am not able to dig deeper into this.....so if anyone can comment on this issue it would be appreciated. An if possible provide some hard evidence that we all can verify.....thank you.

Check the press releases here and here for details. The developers were subject to a court order from the Frankfurt District Court (which could not be disclosed publicly) to put in a backdoor to monitor access to a single IP address. However, this needed a change to the client software and since it was open-source, the code for the backdoor was spotted.

If they use SSL then why on earth do they require a browser plug-in? An SSL-based encryption service could operate either using standard browser proxy settings or via special URLs (e.g. https://encryption-service.com?page=www.the-web-site-I-really-want.com). These would offer the advantage of being available across every browser (not Internet Explorer only) and every Operating System (Windows, Linux, OS-X). This sounds like either a sloppy design decision or just dumb business sense.

JAP; no kidding its slow. Its JAVA!

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Being written in Java is nothing to do with it. Java can actually run faster than C++ (see the Java vs C++ "Shootout" Revisited for details) and offers the advantage of cross-platform availability - you can run JAP on Windows, Linux and OS-X. The problem is that there is limited bandwidth available to access the mix servers which has to be shared between all those accessing it. Also a mix can involve encryption and decryption through multiple servers slowing things further.

I ordered the high speed lic for $15 / m; and I am getting 400KB/s downloads!

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For general web browsing the highest speed I have encountered is 20KB/s without a proxy. JAP can match this during quiet periods but in peak times you should expect 5KB/s or so. However you can set up your system to do downloads directly (gaining the speed) while using JAP for Web access, which is an acceptable compromise for me (and avoids loading the mixes with large file transfers to others' detriment). However it is your money - and if you choose to spend your time on an unproven service then that means more available bandwidth on JAP.

By the way, Anonymizer (who do have a track record) charge $29.95 for a full year's access to their Private Surfing service and $99.95/year for their TotalNet Shield service (which covers all network communication via an SSH proxy) - a superior (and cheaper) service than what Risersoft offers. Another alternative would be COTSE who charge $5.95/month for anonymous web, email, Usenet and webhosting. Still think you got value for money?

I guess its easy to bash a company when you dont know anything about them yourselves though.

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Your post about JAP sure proves that point. However choosing an anonymity provider should be a serious decision since you will be placing a good deal of trust in their service and their willingness to protect you should you attract the wrong type of attention. Your statement also suggests that you have inside knowledge of Risersoft which casts into doubt your ability to offer an independent opinion (especially since you have made just 3 posts here - all on Risersoft's service). Just to be clear on this, do you have any connections with Risersoft? (aside from purchasing a licence).

Wow; you guys are so wrong, its not even funny.

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You need to lighten up then - I spent almost ten minutes laughing at your post.

5KB, 20KB? Did you know there is a reason why people are upgrading to broadband and getting ride of dial up? Haha. 5KB/s thats pretty funny.

And if its so easy to setup SSL enabled proxies why isn't everyone doing it? Why are people looking for secure anonymous solutions? Furthermore; the client app is just a frontend to the Secure Anonymous Proxy. You are buying the service, not the app. And its kind of hard for the average user to setup a ssl/secure proxy, and interface with it. Then on top of all that make it anonymous. How can it be anonymous when its running off their local machine?

A friendly warning... before a mod decides to step in...
These kind of remarks are WAY out of line. PLEASE restrict your language to a CIVIL level. [and by the way... P2K is MUCH more experienced in security than most people claim to be... IMHO...]

And if its so easy to setup SSL enabled proxies why isn't everyone doing it?

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Ask GOOGLE.... ask them why they chose https for gmail

And its kind of hard for the average user to setup a ssl/secure proxy, and interface with it.

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what exactly are you referring to? SSL? if so... gmail again!
if you're referring to JAP... then it's because they want to provide a completely safe channel... they like to authenticate in a particular way.
Don't you install some stuff [dlls and what not] for risersoft plugin? why not the exclamation marks there?
plugins+IE = invisble behaviour ave. users CAN'T comprehend.

How can it be anonymous when its running off their local machine?

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Derek, I could go on and on, but you MUST understand... OPEN SOURCE is better... it is available to public scrutiny.
What guarantee do you have that risersoft is NOT a spyware product?
Anyways, I don't want to convince you that product X is better, I only want you to consider the possibility that jap may actually be safer than some other commercial products.